Part 4, Chapter 5 Hard Spark Summary

Toby and Quath made good time, arriving in a desert under an orange sky. Quath can sense that they are being watched, but she and Toby agree it is not by mechs. Still, Quath is jittery, moving her legs when she wasn't walking on them. Toby is eating a delicious purple fruit when a wedge shoots through his senses.

Something tapered and long comes gliding high in the sky, accompanied by two smaller shapes. It is the Mantis. Quath notes that if the Mantis wanted them dead, it could already have killed them. She suspects that it wants Toby.

A yellow flame shoots out and turns some nearby trees to embers. It strikes Quath, badly injuring her. Toby asks how he can help. Quath tells him to leave. The Myriapodia insists that she will only draw the...